[Jim Porter]

Originally posted by PeteBooth
Originally posted by Jim Porter
Originally posted by GarthB


Do we have to have documented reports of dozens of children in wheelchairs before even considering the prohibition of this slide? My God I certainly hope not. The idea is to keep the kids out of the wheelchairs, and on the baseball field.

Jim I agree, but then the rules have to be applied consistently. The end result of the slide in the LLWS was that the runner was head first with his hand extended to touch the base.

If you are worried about safety as your aforementioned statement suggests, then the runner in the Final play of the LLWS should have been called out.

IMO you can't have it both ways. Granted, the runner went into the slide with his feet first, but because he had to avoid F2, he twisted and eventually he was head first. The umpire could have called the runner out and I do not believe her decision would have got overturned, because when all was said and done the runner was head first.

In conclusion, that's the problem with head first slides. I would have ruled the same as PU, but one can make a case that the last run was via a head first slide. Also, why allow a head first slide backwards. It seems as though one picks and chooses the ramifications of the head first slide.

As with all things in life, one takes a risk when you play a sport. When B1 comes up to bat there is a chance that he could get hit in the wrong area and be seriously injured - do we tell F1 not to pitch inside?

Therefore, until statistics proove otherwise, put the head first slide back in the game at least for the 12 yr. old division.

Pete Booth

Pete,

The 12-year-old division includes 10-year-olds. Even the 12-year-old tournament division includes 11-year-olds - that's awfully close to 10.

As far as the slide in that LLWS World Championship game, I really feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. I cannot believe how many intelligent Internet posters have tried to argue that it was a head-first slide.

Pete, a runner can legally touch the base with his hand. There is no prohibition against that.

Pete, a runner can slide legally in Little League and still touch the base with his hand - or even his head!

Why you equate the action of touching the base with the slide is beyond me. C'mon, now, you know what a head-first slide is. That Japanese runner was sliding feet first - away from home plate.

There is consistent enforcement when it comes to this rule, provided the umpire can recognize a head-first slide. Apparently, that's much tougher than I originally thought. I am absolutely dumbfounded by that. I always thought a head-first slide was easy to recognize.

So, even though you probably saw Pete Rose slide head-first dozens of times in your childhood, even though you now know the intent of the prohibition against head-first sliding, you still think that runner slid head-first???

As Papa C is fond of saying, "Amazing!"